*** Badmarsh and Shri

DANCING DRUMS

(Outcaste/Tommy Boy)

A highlight of last year's cleverly titled Anglo-Indian dance compilation Untouchable Outcaste Beats Vol. 1 was Badmarsh and Shri on "Dancing Drums," eight minutes of pitch-shifting tabla, rubbery bass lines, and fractured flute loops. Nothing on the duo's full-length debut quite matches the intensity of "Dancing Drums," which opens the disc. Nevertheless, they rise above the clutter of raga-tinged dub thanks to Bombay-born multi-instrumentalist Shri. Whenever he comes to the fore -- bowing his fretless bass over the dark drum 'n' bass of "Lament," singing and playing double-time tabla patterns on "130 Steps," or blowing breathy flute improvisations on "Parallel Crossings" -- he brings with him a sense of tradition, passion, and most important, melody that separates Dancing Drums from the work of any number of club kids with samplers and crates of Ravi Shankar records.

-- Michael Endelman